Applies To:

BIG-IQ Cloud

BIG-IQ Security

BIG-IQ Device

About VE VMware deployment

To deploy the BIG-IQ Virtual Edition (VE) system on VMware, you perform these tasks:

Verify the host machine requirements.

Deploy a BIG-IQ system as a virtual machine.

Deploy a BIG-IP system.

After you have deployed the virtual machines, log in to the BIG-IQ VE system
and run the Setup utility. Using the Setup utility, you perform basic network
configuration tasks, such as assigning VLANs to interfaces.

Configure secure communication between the BIG-IQ system and the BIG-IP device.

Host machine requirements and recommendations

To successfully deploy and run the BIG-IQ VE system, the host
system must satisfy minimum requirements.

Connection to a common
NTP source (this is especially important for each host in a redundant system
configuration)

Important: The
hypervisor CPU must meet the following requirements:

Use a 64-bit architecture.

Have support for virtualization (AMD-V or Intel VT-x) enabled.

Support a one-to-one thread-to-defined virtual CPU ratio, or (on single-threading
architectures) support at least one core per defined virtual CPU.

Intel processors must be from the Core (or newer) workstation or server family of CPUs.

Deploying a BIG-IQ VE virtual machine

The first step in deploying BIG-IQ Virtual Edition (VE) is to
download the OVA file to your local system. Next, you can run the Deploy OVF
Template wizard from within the VMwarevSphere™ client. Follow the steps in this procedure
to create an instance of the BIG-IQ system that runs as a virtual machine on the
host system.

Important: Do not modify the configuration of the VMware guest environment with settings less powerful than the
ones recommended in this document. This includes the settings for the CPU, RAM, and
network adapters. Doing so might produce unexpected results.

In the Source pane, click Deploy from file or URL, and,
using the Browse button, locate the OVF file, open it,
and then click Next.
For example:
\MyDocuments\Work\Virtualization\<BIG-IQ_OVF_filename>
The OVF Template Details pane opens.

Verify that the OVF template details are correct, and click
Next.
This displays the End-User License Agreement (EULA).

Read and accept the license agreement, and click Next.
The Name and Location pane opens.

In the Name field, type a name for the F5 VE virtual
machine, such as: smith_f5_ve.

In the Inventory Location area, select a folder name and click
Next.

From the Configuration list, select the number of CPUs
and disks required for your system, and then click
Next.

If the host system is controlled by VMware vCenter, the
Host Cluster screen opens. Choose the preferred host and click
Next. Otherwise, proceed to the next step.

In the Datastore field, type the name of data source
your system will use, in the Available space field, type
in the amount of space your system needs (in Gigabytes), and then click
Next.
The Network Mapping dialog box opens.

Map the Source Networks for Management, External, Internal, and HA to the
Destination Networks in your inventory.

Map the source network Management to the name of
the appropriate external network in your inventory.
An example of a destination external network is
Management.

Map the source network Internal to the name of a
destination non-management network in your inventory.
An example of a destination internal network is Private
Access.

Map the source network External to the name of
the appropriate external network in your inventory.
An example of a destination external network is Public
Access.

Map the source network HA to the name of a
high-availability network in your inventory.
An example of a destination internal network is
HA.

When you have all four destination networks correctly mapped, click
Next.
The Ready to Complete screen opens.

Verify that all deployment settings are correct, and click
Finish.

Powering on the virtual machine

You must power on the virtual machine before you
can begin assigning IP addresses.

In the main vSphere client window, click the
Administration menu.

Select the virtual machine that you want to power on.

Click the Summary tab, and in the Commands area, click Power
On.
The status icon changes to indicate that the virtual machine
is on. Note that the system will not process traffic until you configure the
virtual machine from its command line or through its web
interface.

Assigning a management IP address to a virtual machine

The virtual machine needs an IP address assigned to its virtual management port.

Tip: The default configuration for new deployments and installations is
for DHCP to acquire the management port IP address.

Click the Console tab.
You might need to click the
console area and press Enter to activate the console.

If you want DHCP to automatically assign an address for the management port,
select Yes. Otherwise, select No
and follow the instructions for manually assigning an IP address and netmask for
the management port.

When assigned, the management IP address appears in the Summary tab of the vSphere client. Alternatively, you can use a hypervisor generic
statement to determine your management address; such as: tmsh list sys
management-ip.

Tip: F5 Networks highly recommends that you specify a default route for the
virtual management port, but it is not required for operation of the virtual
machine.